6. Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant (WrestleMania III)
Back in 1987, Hulk Hogan was the biggest name in wrestling. Just two years before he was at the centre of the Rock n Wrestling boom with Mr T, Cyndi Lauper and others. WrestleMania 1 sold out Madison Square Garden, 'Mania 2 came from three different locations so the idea for WrestleMania 3 was to break the indoor attendance record and do it at the Silverdome in Michigan. The big question was who Hulk Hogan would face and so the idea was to turn the other top babyface of the WWF heel - Andre The Giant. Andre had been the most adored star in WWE for years and the decision was made to turn him heel to put over Hogan. On a legendary edition of Pipers Pit, Andre came out with Bobby Heenan and challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania. Hogan looked stunned that The Giant was with The Brain. The Hulkster pleaded with Andre to re-consider and instead Andre ripped Hogan's shirt off and flung it to the ground. It was simple storytelling and gave Hogan his biggest opponent to date. Younger fans might wonder why this simple piece of storytelling makes the cut. The best modern example I can give is it would be like John Cena walking out with Paul Heyman and suddenly turning heel. It was a huge moment in 1987, one with genuine gravitas. Hogan would go on to bodyslam and pin The Giant in front of (allegedly) over 93,000 fans as Andre passed the torch to Hogan, cementing him as the guy.
Kenny is a successful podcast host with Inside The Ropes, promotes exciting Q&A events in the UK with the likes of Sting and DDP, has interviewed the big guns like Foley, Jericho, Bruno and Austin and enjoys cheese a great deal.
